The Advisory Council on the Environment was unable to agree yesterday on whether to endorse a controversial columbarium project at an ecologically sensitive Sha Lo Tung site in Tai Po.
They want the developer to front up at the next meeting to address their concerns before making a final decision.
Sha Lo Tung Development wants to build a columbarium with 60,000 niches for funeral urns in four three-storey buildings, on four hectares of government-owned green-belt land south of the scenic valley. In return, it would establish a 52-hectare nature reserve.
Sha Lo Tung is ranked the second most important of 12 ecologically sensitive sites identified by the government in 2004 for public-private partnerships, under which a developer would build on part of the site and pay to preserve the rest.
The council, in a rare move, delayed its decision instead of taking a vote on whether to endorse or reject the project, which has the support of the council's own environmental impact assessment panel.
After a closed-door meeting, council chairman Professor Paul Lam Kwan-sing said: 'Council members are still unclear about the impact of the proposed development on the ecological system at the site.'